Elf The Musical is the hilarious and heartwarming tale of Buddy (Tony Award® nominee Grey Henson), a young orphan whose life is changed forever when he mistakenly crawls into Santa’s sack of toys one Christmas Eve. Raised by elves at the North Pole, Buddy’s enormous size and limited toy-making abilities make him realize he may not quite fit in! When he discovers he is actually human, Buddy embarks on a journey to New York City to find his birth father, and in turn, helps the Big Apple and the people he meets rediscover the true meaning of Christmas.
Hailed by Time Out as “a slickly irresistible and fizzily enjoyable confection of a show” that will “whirl you up in a technicolor dream of Christmas,” this modern-day holiday classic returns home to Broadway in an acclaimed new, record-breaking production that “has the magic to send you out of the theatre smiling and singing” (The Times of London).
While “Elf” can still hardly be considered a great or even good musical (many songs that fail to leave a lasting impression and loads of clunky comic business), the new Broadway production is, I must confess, a crowd-pleasing, feel-good delight that is presented with genuine showmanship, including expansive dance choreography by Liam Steel, whimsical digital projections, and (in a feat reminiscent of the “Back to the Future” musical) Santa’s sleigh flying high above the audience. There are also, of course, obligatory bursts of snow throughout the theater.
Christmas has come early to Broadway this year. Previous productions of the family-friendly comedic yuletide fable Elf The Musical, though pleasant enough, have seemed short on the very Christmas spirit—an ineffable sense of animating joy—that the musical is about. Its current revival, however, is another story entirely. To be honest, I wasn’t eager to see Elf get taken down from the shelf yet again. But my grinchiness soon vanished, to be replaced with a big wide grin. For the first time in my experience, this show is really elfin’ good.
2010 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
2012 | US Tour |
NETworks National Tour US Tour |
2012 | Broadway |
Broadway Return Production Broadway |
2013 | US Tour |
NETworks National Tour US Tour |
West End |
West End West End |
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2015 | US Tour |
2015 Holiday Tour US Tour |
2017 | Off-Broadway |
Madison Square Garden Return Engagement Off-Broadway |
2022 | US Tour |
US Holiday Tour US Tour |
2024 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Production Broadway |
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